There are a lot of interesting narratives in play in Baltimore this year, but one comes into focus right away. Since he was hired, Buck Showalter has looked for ways to give his young players confidence and swagger. They won a few games in early August, got some injured players back, and were one of the hottest teams in baseball for two months.
Buck has worked hard to carry that momentum into this year. I believe his inflammatory comments about certain AL East rivals were calculated to give his players a sense of contempt for the Yankees and Red Sox, rather than the sense of awe they often display. In February, Showalter showed the Orioles a motivational movie with scenes from Oriole history including an overflowing, raucous Camden Yards. Still, nothing begets that winning attitude like winning. For the young players in particular a hot start would work wonders. Can the Orioles do it given their tough early schedule?
The Rays are coming off a busy winter than saw them rebuild their bullpen from the ground up, retool their offense, and trade a key member of their rotation. Still, they are an exceptionally talented team. Can the O's hang with them?
The O's send Jeremy Guthrie out for the opener against Rays ace David Price. Saturday is Matusz at Shields, Sunday will be Tillman at Davis.
More than anything, the Orioles need to show they are healthy and ready to go. Brian Matusz has as much talent as any pitcher in the Orioles' system but his spring was marred by minor injuries and bad outings. Brian Roberts, Derrek Lee, and Koji Uehara all missed much of spring training with injuries. Kevin Gregg was ineffective. Are these players ready? Can the youngsters get off to a good start? Can Gregg avoid a Mike Gonzalez-style meltdown?
It will be an interesting opening series.
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